Requesting Term Time Absences

 

The Whartons Primary School is committed to reducing the number of holidays taken during term time.  

For any absence requested during term time school must be notified in advance and a Leeds City Council  Application For Absence In Term Time Form completed - available from the School Foyer.  This form is then reviewed by our Headteacher and the absence will be authorised or not and you will receive this in writing

Unfortunately, any unauthorised requests that exceed 5 days over the school year may be sent to Leeds City Council for a fine to be issued.  

There is overwhelming evidence to suggest that absence during term time can be detrimental to your child’s learning, progress and social development.  We understand that there are occasions when being absent is unavoidable, for example through illness.  However, children who miss school even for short periods of time, fall behind and find it hard to catch up.  This can lead to lower achievement and failure to achieve expected outcomes in national tests and examinations.  As a school we are keen to make sure all of our children benefit fully from their education, and to help us achieve this we have an agreed attendance target of 97% for all pupils. 

The following shows the link between % attendance at school and number of days absent.

            98% = less than 4 days absent in one school year

            95% = less than 10 days absent in one school year

            90% = 4 weeks absent in one school year

            85% = 5 ½ weeks absent in one school year

            80% = 7 ½ weeks absent in one school year.

Over 5 years children with an average attendance of 85-90% will have missed half a school year of education which children with an average attendance of 80% over the same period will have missed a whole school year.